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The Class of 2017: Ready to Work

As summer starts to wind down, many
college graduates are eagerly searching
for their first “real” job. Lucky for them,
their prospects are good. In fact, the percentage of U.S. employers that plan to
bring on new college grads in 2017 is at
a 10-year high—74 percent. That’s up
from 67 percent in 2016, according to
employment services firm CareerBuilder.

The demand for young workers is
being driven by low unemployment
and the difficulty businesses are having finding workers to fill in-demand
positions.

“I’m hearing employers saying that
they’re not finding the right people, so
they are turning to new graduates,” said
Roberto Angelo, CEO and co-founder
of AfterCollege, a career network. “You
can either poach workers—which is
hard—or you can go out and recruit
them on campus.”

The New Workers

This year’s grads make up the lead-ing edge of Generation Z, who couldturn out to differ from Millennials inthat they may be more pragmatic andmight be willing to remain with the rightemployer for a decade or more.

In addition to receiving a solid education, Generation Z students have demonstrated work-ready skills through internships and co-op programs, which can
give them a leg up.

Other benefits to hiring new graduates, according to Trent Silver, a career
coach and the CEO of Nerdster, which
provides academic support to college
students, include:

• Technological expertise. They grew
up in an era of rapid technological
change.

• An eagerness to learn and work.
They bring excitement and energy to
their first regular full-time jobs.

• Long-term loyalty. They’re more
likely to stay on board when they have
early exposure to and identify with the
corporate brand.

Show Them the Money

Most undergraduates, encumbered withhigh student loan debt, want to makegood money after college and are willingto give up greater job security and richerbenefits packages in exchange for big-ger paychecks, according to a new studysponsored by LendEDU, a marketplacefor private student loans.

Here are students’ top three considerations when deciding where to work:

• Good pay (cited by 72 percent of
respondents).

• Strong ethical culture ( 14 percent).

• Good training program (8 percent).

“Good pay was expected to be
the most selected answer, but it was
not expected to blow away the other
answers like it did,” said Mike Brown,
research analyst at LendEDU.

To be sure, the best time for people to earn less, Brown pointed out, is
when they are right out of college. “The
opportunity to make more money will
always be there down the road, but a
resume-boosting training program or a
strong ethical culture that instills good
values may not.”

Realistic Expectations
When college students were asked what
they expect to make at their first job
after college, they responded:

• Under $40,000 per year ( 26 percent).

• $40,000 to $60,000 per year ( 36
percent).

• $60,000 to $80,000 per year ( 21
percent).

• Over $80,000 per year ( 17 percent).It turns out they’re in the ballpark.“Most college graduates should expectto see a salary between $40,000 and$60,000,” Brown said. “Additionally,many recent graduates can expect toearn under $40,000, which was the sec-ond most common answer.”The scariest part of the “real world”is “having to pay taxes and set a budget,”nearly half of graduates said. Welcometo adulthood, kids—and best of luck!—Steve Bates andStephen Miller, CEBS